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Potatoes, Rice, Bread, Carbs

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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22 Comments

  1. Michelle @ Eat Move Balance

    I have found that consuming some carbs in the morning (oat bran or sprouted bread) works well for me. And as the day goes on, the less carbs I have.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s great that you found what worked for you. When I was eating bread, I usually had an english muffin with peanut butter on the weekends before working out. It was just enough food to keep me full but not so much I felt sick at the gym!

  2. Roz@weightingfor50

    I never met a carb I didn’t like, so don’t think I could eliminate them completely, but like you, our consumption of them has greatly reduced. In frequency, and in portion size. That said, a warm piece of bread? Yes please! 🙂 Have a great day Lisa.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I hear ya! I’ve been thinking about bread this week. Hot, freshly baked, dripping in butter bread. Grrrr.

  3. Candace

    I can limit bread and potatoes just fine, but, rice seems to be more difficult because I cook a lot of asian food. I recently started trying to limit my intake of wheat products just because I reading about genetically modified foods and the possible link to gluten intolerance – I tolerate it just fine, but it’s just scary knowing so much of the seed that grows our food has been modified. That’s another topic though…

    I’ve been looking at gluten free recipes lately and found this site (I’m not affiliated with it in any way) I noticed she labels several of her recipes “gluten-free, dairy-free” and I thought of you, so I’m just passing it along!

    http://meaningfuleats.blogspot.com/

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I get that! The GMO foods are definitely scary. Thanks for the link. I will look at it now.

  4. Em

    I’ve been not eating bread and potatoes for a few months, and I really don’t miss them. I never ate a lot of pasta, either, so my carbs mostly come from veggies and fruits now. I actually feel a lot better without all the super-starchy stuff.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s great that you just naturally got rid of it and feel better. I never crave pasta either, but I have a friend that says that’s her trigger food. She loves pasta and can’t resist it.

  5. Kat

    Hi Lisa!

    I think it’s great that you guys have “phased out” alot of the starches from your diets. In many ways I think that the health benefits of cutting back on carbs are just as much about what they are replaced with as they are about the removal of the actual item. I get really tired of all of the “don’t eat this it’s bad for you” talk that you see every day,it’s depressing and it feels like sometimes it creates a culture of fear (which isn’t really how I would like to live) It’s helpful for me to see that your approach became more about losing the desire as opposed to some sort of crusade to eliminate them from your diet. Personally I believe in balance, any diet that says one food group is going to give you everything you need does not seem very balanced to me. I’m looking towards getting my grains as whole and unprocessed as possible and to portion control the starches (when you are on a budget starches are not something that you can easily eliminate) Ok, sorry for the book, your post just got me thinking this mornin, hope you are well, luv ya guys 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thanks for the comment, Kat! I agree. What you describe is one of the main reasons I was reluctant to do any sort of diet (Paleo, Slow Carb, gluten free etc). I don’t think food is bad. I think there are better options than some of the junk out there, but labeling food like that makes you just want it more. That’s why calorie counting works so well for me–I can eat whatever I want, no restrictions, as long as I’m in my calories for the day.

      Wish you were in town! We need to hang out soon!

  6. Beth

    As someone else said I like to have a carb in the morning – either a bagel flat or english muffin (I am now into PB2 instead of peanut butter) or oatmeal but as the day goes on I don’t have any. In the winter especially I find it hard to have something cold for breakfast like cottage cheese or yogurt w/ fruit. But once you get into the habit of eliminating them the easier it is. The bread basket at a restaurant is very hard!!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I agree about the restaurant bread basket! The bread is fresh and warm and the dipping sauces are so good….mmmm!

  7. Trevor

    Dammit woman! Now I want me some sweet potato fries! And a dinner roll.

    It’s hard to change our diets from the foods we grew up with to something more healthful. I grew up on just about as processed a diet as one can get. If it looked like it was killed or plucked from the ground, I wanted no part of it. Just gimme some damn Kraft mac and cheese.

    Having a cook in the house, or learning to cook yourself, will go a long way towards improving your diet. More people need to take the time to prepare something nice for dinner. As you discovered, a diet of Lean Cuisines just ain’t gonna cut it.

    Cheers!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s too funny! I wouldn’t say I hated anything that grew in the earth but I was definitely more likely to choose the easier option.

      Are you the cook in your house?

  8. I ❤ 2 Eat

    I grew up on rice – two meals a day, without fail. That’s what everyone in Bangladesh eats – how can you have dinner without rice? That doesn’t make sense! My husband is diabetic and decided he didn’t want to eat rice anymore, so we’ve more or less cut it out of our diet. We also moved on to sweet potatoes from white potatoes. I love carbs so I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to completely give it up. But slowly, there is progress. 😀

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I didn’t know you were from Bangladesh! I bet you ate amazing food growing up there.

      Have you tried black rice? That’s my new favorite thing.

  9. Kristen@Change of Pace

    We eat a paleo diet at home so we don’t eat any rice, pasta, potatoes, or bread. I was a lot like you when I was little with always having to have a carb. I grew up learning that it’s supposed to be on your plate. Meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes. Right?

    I’ve never really been a big meat eater so my challenge was to learn to like meat and eggs more so I could forget about the carbs. It was hard because I had to retrain myself.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans sound pretty fantastic to me right now!

  10. Ali @ Peaches and Football

    Yes! Rice, beans, pasta, potatoes – they are all evil, evil, evil things when I’m trying to lose weight. But I agree, I think we’re drawn to them because of childhood and because they are easy, quick, and yummy. My boyfriend is a meat and potato guy so we’ve been working on not totally eliminating the starch but reducing it by adding more veggies and making the potato or rice a small side. I have roasted butternut squash in the oven and that’s been so good – if I could get the guy on board we’d have that a lot more. Small steps 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      It sounds like you guys are making strides in retraining your mind. Squash is great side dish. It feels like you’re eating a carb but not really.

  11. Jess

    I tend to eat just under my recommended carb range without trying, and I naturally eat less carbs as the day progresses. I start my day with cereal and greek yogurt, fruit and cheese for a snack, something on toast for lunch, protein snack in the afternoon, then meat and veg for dinner. We don’t eat potatoes much in my house because to be perfectly honest we are all too lazy. It is easier and quicker to chop and steam some broccoli than to wash or peel and then chop potatoes.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s great that it naturally tapers off throughout the day.

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